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Triple Crown

Jeff Hinkley is back for a third outing. Still a British Horseracing Authority investigator, Jeff has been seconded to the US Federal Anti-Corruption in Sports Agency (FACSA), where he has been asked to find a mole in their organization, an informant who is passing on confidential information to those under suspicion in American racing. Jeff attends the Kentucky Derby with the FACSA team, accompanying the Special Agents on a raid to a horse trainer's barn at Churchill Downs. Things do not go well.

Silks

From Dick Francis and his son, Felix, comes Geoffrey Mason - a defense barrister whose true passion is riding his thoroughbred. Mason's two lives collide when a fellow jockey is accused of murdering a colleague with a pitchfork. Mason prefers not to get involved. But soon he is torn between doing what's right - and what will keep him alive.

Wild Horses

When Thomas Lyon decides to make a movie based on an unsolved crime that shocked the horseracing world in Wild Horses, he discovers that someone will do anything - including commit murder - to make sure this story isn't told.

To the Hilt

Alexander Kinloch is definitely the black sheep of his noble family, choosing the precarious life of a painter over a lucrative job in his stepfather’s brewery. But when a trusted assistant disappears with millions of pounds, Alexander is reluctantly thrust into a foreign world of bankers and auditors. Brutal thugs and jealous relatives stand in his way as he labors to save the business and protect the family treasures. In the face of adversity, Alexander must defend himself and his family’s honor to the hilt.

Driving Force

A dead hitchhiker, empty canisters found at the bottom of several trucks, and the murder of a harmless mechanic are the bizarre events that lead ex-jockey Freddie Croft to suspect that his transport company, Driving Force, is involved in drug smuggling, or something far worse.

Dead Heat

Max Moreton is a rising culinary star and his Newmarket restaurant, The Hay Net, has brought him great acclaim and a widening circle of admirers. But when nearly all the guests who enjoyed one of his meals at a private catered affair fall victim to severe food poisoning, his kitchen is shuttered and his reputation takes a hit.

Reflex

Well-plotted and full of atmospheric charm, Reflex demonstrates the fine style that earned Dick Francis the title of Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. This fast-paced story of a jockey’s courageous murder investigation exposes the politics and corruption at the heart of the British racing world. Philip Nore has no greater ambition than to successfully complete the last years of his career as a jockey, even if it means bending the rules a bit. But when pushed, Philip discovers that there really are a few other things that matter to him.

Even Money

When a gray-haired man steps forward from the crowd claiming to be his father, Ned's life is thrown into far deeper turmoil. He'd been told since he was a baby that his parents had died in a car crash. Barely an hour later, his newly found father is stabbed by an unknown assailant in the Ascot parking lot. Blood oozing from his abdomen, his father warns Ned to "be very careful." But of whom? Of what?<

Banker

Internationally popular Dick Francis packs his equestrian mysteries with as much breath-taking suspense and danger as any neck-and-neck thoroughbred race. In this New York Times best-seller, he combines the hazard of investing in horses with the calculated risk of high finance to create a plot that twists and turns around every corner.

Decider

Architect and family man Lee Morris never gave much thought to the shares he inherited of the Stratton Park racecourse, the multi-million dollar property owned by the powerful Stratton family. His mother had first received the shares to keep her quiet about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her first husband, Keith Stratton. Now, much to Lee's chagrin, he is being drawn into the thick of the Stratton family squabbles as they wage a furious debate over the future of the race track.

Break In

Dick Francis was a jockey and horse trainer for many years. His experience gives his questrian mysteries an authenticity that has attracted fans around the globe. To honor him, the Mystery Writers of America named Dick Francis a Grand Master for his impeccably crafted contributions to the genre. Jockey Kit Fielding has been riding the de Brescous horses in a succession of triumphs on the race course. But this winning streak is about to end. Kit’s twin sister, Holly, has come to him in desperation. Threatened by financial scandal, she and her husband may lose their training stables.

10 Lb. Penalty

In this fast-moving best-seller, 18-year-old amateur jockey Benedict Juliard reluctantly interrupts his exciting career to promote his father in an ambitious political campaign. But suddenly, campaigning becomes more thrilling, and deadly, than steeplechase racing.

Twice Shy

Dick Francis’ witty blend of horseplay and mystery is an incredible combination. As a result, each of his equestrian novels gallops onto best-seller lists. In Twice Shy, Dick Francis whips up a fast-paced race through the risky world of horse betting. It begins when, offering little explanation, a friend thrusts some cassette tapes into Jonathan Derry’s hands. But when the young man tries to play them, he realizes that, instead of “Oklahoma!”, he’s been given taped computer programs.

Under Orders

"Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in a single afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than one eyebrow." It's the third death on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day that really troubles super-sleuth Sid Halley. Last seen in 1995's Come to Grief, former champion jockey Halley knows the perils of racing all too well but, in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest.

Proof

With this New York Times best seller, Dick Francis creates an intoxicating blend of the good life, fast horses, and nail-biting suspense. After a shattering accident plunges a society soiree into chaos, an unassuming wine merchant is left with the bitter aftertaste of suspicion and fear. While catering an outdoor party for a prominent horse trainer, Tony Beach hears rumors of inferior whisky being sold under premium labels.

Crossfire

Shell-shocked and missing a foot-lost to an IED during his tour of duty in Afghanistan-Captain Tom Forsyth has been sent "home" by the army and, at loose ends, returns to his estranged mother's house for the first time since he joined up at seventeen. But Josephine Kauri, the "first lady of British racing," has always put the horses she trains first and her family last. Tom soon finds himself strained to the breaking point with his mother and stepfather.

Odds Against

It’s amazing what bodily injury can do for a man. A fall from a racehorse left brilliant jockey Sid Halley dangerously depressed, with a wrecked hand and the need for a new career. It was a bullet wound that helped him find one.

Risk

Roland Britten, accountant and amateur jockey, awakens one morning to find he can’t move his hands—because he is tied up with netting, held captive where no light penetrates and no amount of yelling will get any attention. But why?

Shattered

When jockey Martin Stukely dies after a fall at Cheltenham, he accidentally embroils his friend Gerard Logan in a perilous search for a stolen videotape. Logan is a glassblower on the verge of widespread acclaim.

Second Wind

The catastrophic power of a giant hurricane can raise coastal waves 30 feet high and blow through houses at devastating speeds. For TV meteorologist Perry Stuart, however, such predictions are hypothetical, as he chiefly predicts periods of English drizzle - until a fellow forecaster offers him a Caribbean hurricane-chasing ride in a small airplane as a holiday diversion. But a frightening accident teaches Stuart more secrets than wind speeds.

Enquiry

Jockey Kelly Hughes and trainer Dexter Cranfield have been barred from racing - a devastating event for them both. The charge at the secret enquiry? Throwing a race for personal profit. It is a vicious frame-up and, worse, they have nowhere to turn to clear their names. Still Hughes refuses to take the phony verdict lying down - even though his personal enquiry might have him lying down permanently...

Smokescreen

Edward Lincoln is a worldwide celebrity who plays impossibly daring detectives on the big screen. But in reality he is an ordinary man currently stuck in an extraordinary spot. Nerissa, his ailing godmother, had pleaded with him to travel to South Africa to investigate whether someone was tampering with her racehorses. He could not refuse her.

High Stakes

Steven Scott is relatively new to horses. A successful, wealthy inventor, he takes up horse racing as a hobby - a hobby that soon brings him winner after winner under the inspired guidance of his trainer, Jody Leeds. Currently both their reputations are wrapped up in a beautiful black hurdler named Energise. But just when Steven is winning at both women and horses, he discovers deceit in his own stables. Termination of the troublemaker marks Steven for his own termination - and much sooner than he can imagine...

In the Frame

Charles Todd is an English artist who is well known and respected for his renderings of sleek and athletic horses. What he now faces at his cousin Donald's house is also art - the art of a perfectly brutal murderer. Donald's home has been burglarized and his wife, Regina, is lying on her back dead, her face the color of cream. Donald is shattered, shocked, and a prime suspect.

Publisher's Summary

The next great best-selling mystery from the grand master of the genre...

When race caller and television presenter Mark Shillingford calls a race in which his twin sister, Clare, an accomplished and successful jockey, comes in second when she could have won, he believes the worst: that she lost on purpose, and the race was fixed. That night, Mark confronts Clare with his suspicions, she storms off after an argument - and it’s the last time Mark sees her alive. Hours later, Clare jumps to her death from the balcony of a London hotel...or so it seems.

Devastated and guilty over her death, Mark goes in search of answers. What had led Clare to take her own life? Or was it not suicide at all?

Felix Francis has matured in his writing. He sticks with the plot, introducing plot complications, characters, and clues in a timely matter. He inserts explanations where needed so the reader isn't scratching his head about why a character seems to be overreacting. His last book was good but over long and could have used a sharper pencil. This one is sharply written and doesn't get bogged down.

It is reminiscent of his father's work in that his main character is someone you might like to hang out and is a hard worker that things happen to and who must find out why before he is killed. Felix Francis' characters in this book seem to have the same good characteristics and a bit more depth. I look forward to his next book.

I have long enjoyed Dick Francis's stories with their strong main characters and rich details. But I was disappointed with this one by his son. The main character here seemed weak and whiny, and some of the happenings extremely unlikely. I found myself wanting to tell Mark to stop whining and grow up. I doubt I'll buy another of Felix Francis's books.

Just didn't seem realistic. Characters were too thinly sketched and not likeable. The plot had too many holes .

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I liked his baritone voice and crisp elocution, but he was not right for the main character (too old, too strong) and the women seemed like airheads (this is tough for all the male narrators).

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment- kept hope it would pick up.

Any additional comments?

I was a huge Dick Francis fan, but stopped reading his later works when the quality fell off. I knew his writing was a family affair, so when I saw Felix got 4 stars for Bloodline, I decided to give him a try. I'm sorry to say he doesn't have his father's touch. His "hero" began the book with a huge ethical lapse, and did not have the expected reaction to his sister's death, making him very unsympathetic He didn't ask the logical questions one would have after a sibling's presumed suicide, and it was frustrating that he seemed to miss obvious clues. The supporting characters behaved in arbitrary ways. His love interests (both of them) acted so suspiciously that I assumed they were being set up as conspirators or victims. Unlike Dick Francis, who would introduce new villains as the thriller progressed, Felix followed the "Law of Economy of Characters" so that the killer had to be one of the characters previously introduced. Once our hero identified the killer by sight, he was described only as "the man", which was really frustrating because it could have been 2 or 3 minor characters (either of them would have satisfied the plot). The setting of the race course broadcast booth was interesting, but most of the dialogue was really flat.

I'm not sure....Bloodline was not what I've come to expect from Felix Francis. This book made me feel like I was reading a biography of the character instead of a work of fiction. I read for entertainment and this book didn't do much entertaining.

Which scene was your favorite?

None that really stood out for me.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Dick Francis's Bloodline?

I would have cut a lot of the introspection of the main character. As I said, this book definitely lacked most of the mystery I've come to expect from a Felix Francis book.

Any additional comments?

This book was almost boring....I was tempted to turn it off several times. The only reason I finished it was because I really don't like to not finish a book...but this one came close.

This story takes lots of twists and turns. Hard to predict the finish until it happens. Lots of interesting information about the back side of racing. This story is Dick Francis at his best. Congratulations Felix on keeping the tradition going. You have all of the talent and then some writing captivating stories like your Father. This is one of the best of the whole series. Please keep them coming!

This is an excellently written book with a great plot. As usual Martin Jarvis did a fantastic job on the narration and made it a pleasure to listen too.I think that Felix Francis is just as great an author as his father and I hope he continues to write for many years.

I wondered if son Felix could pick up where his father left off, and he has pleasantly surprised me with a great book, exceptionally well written with a tight compelling story. There is so much in here that is in the style of his father's older books. The reading by Martin Jarvis probably helps recreate the sense of the older books since I had listened to his reading of them. Overall a great listen and I highly recommend.